No Arabic abstract
We discuss 6 GHz JVLA observations covering a volume-limited sample of 178 low redshift ($0.2 < z < 0.3$) optically selected QSOs. Our 176 radio detections fall into two clear categories: (1) About $20$% are radio-loud QSOs (RLQs) having spectral luminosities $L_6 gtrsim 10^{,23.2} mathrm{~W~Hz}^{-1}$ primarily generated in the active galactic nucleus (AGN) responsible for the excess optical luminosity that defines a emph{bona fide} QSO. (2) The radio-quiet QSOs (RQQs) have $10^{,21} lesssim L_6 lesssim 10^{,23.2} mathrm{~W~Hz}^{-1}$ and radio sizes $lesssim 10 mathrm{~kpc}$, and we suggest that the bulk of their radio emission is powered by star formation in their host galaxies. Radio silent QSOs ($L_6 lesssim 10^{,21} mathrm{~W~Hz}^{-1}$) are rare, so most RQQ host galaxies form stars faster than the Milky Way; they are not red and dead ellipticals. Earlier radio observations did not have the luminosity sensitivity $L_6 lesssim 10^{,21} mathrm{~W~Hz}^{-1}$ needed to distinguish between such RLQs and RQQs. Strong, generally double-sided, radio emission spanning $gg 10 mathrm{~kpc}$ was found associated with 13 of the 18 RLQ cores having peak flux densities $S_mathrm{p} > 5 mathrm{~mJy~beam}^{-1}$ ($log(L) gtrsim 24$). The radio luminosity function of optically selected QSOs and the extended radio emission associated with RLQs are both inconsistent with simple unified models that invoke relativistic beaming from randomly oriented QSOs to explain the difference between RLQs and RQQs. Some intrinsic property of the AGNs or their host galaxies must also determine whether or not a QSO appears radio loud.
Studies of radio-loud (RL) broad absorption line (BAL) quasars indicate that popular orientation-based BAL models fail to account for all observations. Are these results extendable to radio-quiet (RQ) BAL quasars? Comparisons of RL and RQ BAL quasars show that many of their properties are quite similar. Here we extend these analyses to the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectral properties, using a sample of 73 RL and 473 RQ BAL quasars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Each RQ quasar is individually matched to a RL quasar in both redshift (over the range $1.5 < z < 3.5$) and continuum luminosity. We compare several continuum, emission line, and absorption line properties, as well as physical properties derived from these measurements. Most properties in the samples are statistically identical, though we find slight differences in the velocity structure of the BALs that cause apparent differences in CIV emission line properties. Differences in the velocities may indicate an interaction between the radio jets and the absorbing material. We also find that UV FeII emission is marginally stronger in RL BAL quasars. All of these differences are subtle, so in general we conclude that RL and RQ BAL QSOs are not fundamentally different objects, except in their radio properties. They are therefore likely to be driven by similar physical phenomena, suggesting that results from samples of RL BAL quasars can be extended to their RQ counterparts.
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are known to cover an extremely broad range of radio luminosities and the spread of their radio-loudness is very large at any value of the Eddington ratio. This implies very diverse jet production efficiencies which can result from the spread of the black hole spins and magnetic fluxes. Magnetic fluxes can be developed stochastically in the innermost zones of accretion discs, or can be advected to the central regions prior to the AGN phase. In the latter case there could be systematic differences between the properties of galaxies hosting radio-loud (RL) and radio-quiet (RQ) AGNs. In the former case the differences should be negligible for objects having the same Eddington ratio. To study the problem we decided to conduct a comparison study of host galaxy properties of RL and RQ AGNs. In this study we selected type II AGNs from SDSS spectroscopic catalogues. Our RL AGN sample consists of the AGNs appearing in the Best & Heckman (2012) catalogue of radio galaxies. To compare RL and RQ galaxies that have the same AGN parameters we matched the galaxies in black hole mass, Eddington ratio and redshift. We compared several properties of the host galaxies in these two groups of objects like galaxy mass, colour, concentration index, line widths, morphological type and interaction signatures. We found that in the studied group RL AGNs are preferentially hosted by elliptical galaxies while RQ ones are hosted by galaxies of later type. We also found that the fraction of interacting galaxies is the same in both groups of AGNs. These results suggest that the magnetic flux in RL AGNs is advected to the nucleus prior to the AGN phase.
We present the study on the X-ray emission for a sample of radio-detected quasars constructed from the cross-matches between SDSS, FIRST catalogs and XMM-Newton archives. A sample of radio-quiet SDSS quasars without FIRST radio detection is also assembled for comparison. We construct the optical and X-ray composite spectra normalized at rest frame $4215,rm AA$ (or $2200,rm AA$) for both radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) at $zle3.2$, with matched X-ray completeness of 19%, redshift and optical luminosity. While the optical composite spectrum of RLQs is similar to that of RQQs, we find that RLQs have higher X-ray composite spectrum than RQQs, consistent with previous studies in the literature. By dividing the radio-detected quasars into radio loudness bins, we find the X-ray composite spectra are generally higher with increasing radio loudness. Moreover, a significant correlation is found between the optical-to-X-ray spectral index and radio loudness, and there is a unified multi-correlation between the radio, X-ray luminosities and radio loudness in radio-detected quasars. These results could be possibly explained with the corona-jet model, in which the corona and jet are directly related.
Lobe-dominated radio-loud (LD RL) quasars occupy a restricted domain in the 4D Eigenvector 1 (4DE1) parameter space which implies restricted geometry/physics/kinematics for this subclass compared to the radio-quiet (RQ) majority of quasars. We discuss how this restricted domain for the LD RL parent population supports the notion for a RQ-RL dichotomy among Type 1 sources. 3C 57 is an atypical RL quasar that shows both uncertain radio morphology and falls in a region of 4DE1 space where RL quasars are rare. We present new radio flux and optical spectroscopic measures designed to verify its atypical optical/UV spectroscopic behaviour and clarify its radio structure. The former data confirms that 3C 57 falls off the 4DE1 quasar main sequence with both extreme optical FeII emission (R_{FeII} ~ 1) and a large CIV 1549 profile blueshift (~ -1500 km/s). These parameter values are typical of extreme Population A sources which are almost always RQ. New radio measures show no evidence for flux change over a 50+ year timescale consistent with compact steep-spectrum (CSS or young LD) over core-dominated morphology. In the 4DE1 context where LD RL are usually low L/L_{Edd} quasars we suggest that 3C 57 is an evolved RL quasar (i.e. large Black Hole mass) undergoing a major accretion event leading to a rejuvenation reflected by strong FeII emission, perhaps indicating significant heavy metal enrichment, high bolometric luminosity for a low redshift source and resultant unusually high Eddington ratio giving rise to the atypical CIV 1549.
We have performed a search over 3440 deg$^2$ of Epoch 1 (2017-2019) of the Very Large Array Sky Survey to identify unobscured quasars in the optical ($0.2 < z < 3.2$) and obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the infrared that have brightened dramatically in the radio over the past one to two decades. These sources would have been previously classified as radio-quiet quasars based on upper limits from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters survey (1993-2011), but they are now consistent with radio-loud quasars ($L_{rm 3,GHz} = 10^{40 - 42} ,, {rm erg} ,{rm s}^{-1}$). A quasi-simultaneous, multiband ($sim1-18$ GHz) follow-up study of 14 sources with the VLA has revealed compact sources ($<0.1^{prime prime}$ or $<1$ kpc) with peaked radio spectral shapes. The high-amplitude variability over decadal timescales at 1.5 GHz (100% to $>$2500%), but roughly steady fluxes over a few months at 3 GHz, are inconsistent with extrinsic variability due to propagation effects, thus favoring an intrinsic origin. We conclude that our sources are powerful quasars hosting compact/young jets. This challenges the generally accepted idea that radio-loudness is a property of the quasar/AGN population that remains fixed on human timescales. Our study suggests that frequent episodes of short-lived AGN jets that do not necessarily grow to large scales may be common at high redshift. We speculate that intermittent but powerful jets on subgalactic scales could interact with the interstellar medium, possibly driving feedback capable of influencing galaxy evolution.